Fifteen, There's Still Time
by Shyma Tavrott Lupin
Summary: After preventing an eternal fall from the light side, Xanatos returns to the Jedi not only to be knighted but given the chance to take on an apprentice as well. Fifteen years later he and his dutiful padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to resolve a crisis within the Trade Federation only to find themselves involved in a much much bigger plot. TPM AU (Rewrite of If Everyone Cared)
1. Prologue

**Hello readers old and new. For those of you returning to my works I'd like to say thank you so very much for sticking around. For those of you that are new, this is a rewrite of my story If Everyone Cared, the first part in my Xanatos Chronicles. I first started publishing the Chronicles years ago and since my writing has improved massively since then I've decided the best way to reboot the series that I initially thought I'd lost my muse for was to begin rewriting it as I would if I'd thought of it today. That being said real life is a bit of a pain in the butt and I might go MIA here and there but rest assured I won't abandon this time. And if I am gone for too long then feel free to pester me into returning; if it brought my muse back three years later then chances are it'll work again in week to month spans. So without further ado, I present to you the first of my six part Xanatos Chronicles, Fifteen There's Still Time. I own nothing, regardless, enjoy :)**

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_"I'm 15 for a moment_  
_Caught in between 10 and 20_  
_And I'm just dreaming"_

As a Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn wasn't very used to the feeling of the dark side. Understandably, the entire time his green lightsaber clashed with the red of his defected apprentice's, Qui-Gon felt overwhelmed. It wasn't the first time that the younger man had raised a blade against him or the first time heartbreak cross the Jedi Master's eyes upon thinking of how it all came down to this. Yes, Qui-Gon had always seen the reckless arrogance in his young apprentice at an early age, but had it even crossed his mind that Xanatos would be affected by the witness of his father's death to the point where he would give in to those negative characteristics completely. But seeing the man fall to the dark side wasn't enough for Qui-Gon, it wasn't enough for him to simply let it go and move on with his life the way the council expected him to.

No, instead Qui-Gon had chased after Xanatos for closure, tracking down where he left his marks and where the boots of the army clamoring behind him could be heard. For months all he was faced with was the sickening thump thump of the obscure force coursing through Xanatos' veins but this particular encounter on Telos IV within the very chamber where Qui-Gon had killed Crion Omega, was different-_felt_ different. There was no longer a steadfast barrier of hatred and felon standing before Xanatos, rather a crumbling one and this became more clear than ever when Qui-Gon finally bested his former apprentice.

"Just do it." The hoarseness of the younger man's voice startled Qui-Gon and the fatherly instincts he'd developed for the Telos native willed him to ease the boy's pain. "Go on, just get it over with." The Jedi Master remained silent and frozen, hand tight on his lightsaber, determined to keep his resolve strong to strike the newest Sith apprentice down.

"Come on, old man, I'm ready" Xanatos spoke through his pants, "I made my mistakes, ruined the life and chance I was given so just give me what I have coming and just-make...make it quick, ok?"

Qui-Gon exhaled deeply and with full awareness that he might quite possibly be making an enormous mistake, withdrew his lightsaber from Xanatos' face and tucked it back into his belt. He crouched down before Xanatos, the small noise of a popping joint reminding him that he quite dearly needed to retire, and looked hard into his former padawan's eyes.

"What is it, Xanatos?" he asked quietly, "What plagues your heart?" He found it almost funny that he'd been training a rebellious teenager for so long that the lack of a snappy comment surprised him. What surprised him even more was the sudden glossiness in the young man's eyes and the way the amber glow in them was chipping back into a familiar glacial blue.

"Regret," was Xanatos' quiet and shaky answer after some time, "Regret and..."

It occurred to Qui-Gon, as the fallen Jedi before him took a moment to compose himself and contain the heat in his eyes, that Xanatos was still merely a teenager, eighteen years of age only. He tended to forget with the way Xanatos had grown into his body, his voice lowering, shoulders broadening and chest filling. Six feet and fifteen years later Qui-Gon had forgotten that his former apprentice was still a _child_.

"I made mistakes, master." Qui-Gon was shaken by the spilling over of Xanatos' tears. The loss of control was new to him and seeing the younger willing to let himself go stirred his chest. "I made mistakes that even the deepest of regret won't forgive so I'm ready for you to end it the way you should. That's what plagues my mind, that even regret can't change my mistakes and worse yet, right my wrongs."

There were many things that the Jedi Master could have said in that moment, but what he chose to do spoke many more words than he could have ever hoped to summon to express his thoughts. He reached into his cloak and produced a familiar lightsaber that once shone a bright green next to Qui-Gon's of the same color. An intricately designed weapon that saw its hardships but made it through thick and thin, scratches and scrapes. Qui-Gon took this lightsaber and pressed it to Xanatos' palm.

"This weapon is your life, young one. And here is your chance to have it back."

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**So that was that. Let me know what you lovelies think, how it turned out, constructive criticism questions, comments, suggestions, anything at all, I love to hear from my audience. I'll put up the next chapter within the end of the week so until then happy fic-ing :)**


	2. It Begins

**Hello once again my lovelies. Looks like I was able to get the first chapter rewritten faster than I thought I would so here it is the very next day. Enjoy :)**

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"Xan, come on, we're going to be late" Obi-Wan Kenobi's call was accompanied by several knocks to the fresher door for what seemed like the tenth time in as many minutes.

"To hell we are," was the response he received from his master inside. At least the water had turned off and Obi-Wan took that as his cue to stop badgering the older man and get ready himself. He was seated on the couch pulling his boots on when Xanatos exited the fresher, half undressed and his hair still wet. "If the council calls us to a meeting fifteen minutes after we've returned from a long term off-planet mission then they should expect no less than for us to be fashionably late," the Jedi Knight said as he took to his room to get dressed, "I don't care what anyone says, there is no way I'm making any kind of legitimate report smelling like sweat and banthas."

Obi-Wan could only smile and shake his head fondly at his master. "Alright but the council isn't going to be too happy when they hear that we ran late because you were prioritizing your body odor over their orders" he spoke as he finished strapping his boots and walked to the door.

"And since when do I specialize in making the council happy, hm?" Xanatos grinned, exiting his room looking as disheveled as ever but joining Obi-Wan at the door regardless. Obi-Wan gave a "fair enough" shrug before stepping out of the quarters in lead of his master.

Once they reached the council's chambers, bowing was about as far as formality went for the Omega-Kenobi pair. They were both very familiar and comfortable with the Jedi masters around them, which allowed them to behave more freely than most would.

"In Naboo your new assignment is" Master Yoda began once the two straightened. The disdain that quickly overcame Xanatos' features didn't go unnoticed by the masters. "We are aware that you have just returned from Mandalore but this is a simple mission regarding the blockade caused by the Trade Federation," Mace Windu continued.

"It's a negotiation mission, boys, your specialty," Qui-Gon, who had very much settled down since Xanatos' knighting, picked up from beside Mace, "The Federation is being impractical and the chancellor feels that having Jedi speak to them would be far more efficient than to send anyone from the senate."

"Basically he wants us to bare our teeth at those Trade Federation cowards and get them to back off?" Xanatos raised a brow. "That's one way to put it, yes" Plo Koon nodded, accustomed to Xanatos' blunt mannerisms at this point.

"Leave tomorrow morning you will and be able to return by the end of the week you should" Yoda assured the duo, "Have a break after that, you can, young ones." Both Obi-Wan and Xanatos had to smile at being referred to that way by Yoda. They nodded with a word in unison of, "Yes master" before bowing and taking their leave, offering Qui-Gon, the closest to them an extra smile.

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The trip to the Trade Federations's flagship wasn't necessarily an interesting one. For the most part it consisted of team Omega's usual tomfoolery around the average sized ship they'd attained and Xanatos checking into the cockpit every so often to look over their stats and location. When they finally landed in the hangar of the ship they were greeted by a protocol droid by the name of TC-14. It brought them to an empty conference room, informed them that the Viceroy would be with them shortly and left.

"I have a bad feeling about this" Obi-Wan muttered as they looked around the room.

"I don't sense anything" Xanatos replied, walking further into the room, inconspicuously scouting it for signs of foul play on the Federation's part.

"It's not about the mission master" Obi-Wan continued, "It's something elsewhere...elusive."

Xanatos looked back to his apprentice and raised a brow. He looked as though he wanted to say something but turned to the window closest to him instead. Looking out to the planet of Naboo in the distance, he waited till Obi-Wan was at his side again before speaking. "Years and years of training with Qui-Gon make me want to say something like, don't center your anxieties," he chuckled at how he was slowly becoming his former master, "But then I would end up contradicting myself because Master Yoda on the other hand always told me to be mindful of the future." Obi-Wan was about to reply but Xanatos wasn't quite finished yet, "But then again Qui-Gon also said not to focus on the future at the expense of the moment and that you should be mindful of the living force. But hey, who am I to lecture, I'm at war with myself here." Obi-Wan, as per usual after these one sided conversations with Xanatos, simply smiled and stared off out the window as well, thinking he really wouldn't have his master any other way.

"D'you think this is actually going to be a short little negotiation?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, staring down at the planet of Naboo below.

"Knowing our luck it's probably a war under the wraps" Xanatos rolled his eyes, then decided to answer a bit more seriously, "It looks like just a routine mission, kiddo, enjoy it. The quicker we finish, the quicker we get home, yeah?"

"Yeah. But you know I can't help but wish we were back in the heat of things..." Obi-Wan paced his words, "Mandalore was exciting, bold, daring. We got to show the world what Jedi are really made of, you know? How many people have gotten to do that in these times of peace? We're practically glorified advice givers at this point, with the routine missions and the patrolling that we're going to be forced back into in no time."

Xanatos rolled his eyes once more, but this time in a much more lighthearted manner. It was a fond gesture accompanied by a sigh at his apprentice's youthful energy and restlessness, remembering being the exact same way at that age. "I hear you, kiddo but for now lets just appreciate the fact that we have peace to be bored of. The times of brutal adventures and opportunities that gave us a chance to prove our glory were harsh ones. The reign of the Sith..." Xanatos exhaled deeply, touching upon the sensitive subject, "is something I would rather not deal with in exchange for boredom."

Obi-Wan let out a breath, lesson learned. "Cheer up, I'll give you action via beating you into the pavement once we get back to the temple" Xanatos added, lightening the mood with a smile and a hand to Obi-Wan's back.

"You couldn't beat me in a duel if you tried, old man" Obi-Wan quipped half-heartedly, but still glad that the tension was out of the air.

Xanatos opened his mouth to respond but the door behind him whizzing open took his attention instead. Both men looked to the door as the droid from before returned to hand them drinks. While Xanatos eyed his cup warily, Obi-Wan took a sip.

"They _are_ taking unusually long, aren't they?" Xanatos muttered after a moment. Obi-Wan nodded thoughtfully but in the end opted to say, "I say we give them just a little more time before getting suspicious. For all you know the Viceroy could just be taking a last minute shower to rid himself of bantha and or sweat like odors." Xanatos chuckled in nothing but pure amusement.

However a sudden disturbance in the force was quick to pull the Jedi out of their musings. Sensing the deaths of their pilots immediately afterwards, they wasted no time to stand and draw their lightsabers. As the weapons hummed to life, the droid took a startled step back. Xanatos ignored it and strode to the middle of the room, inspecting his surroundings and upon seeing no immediate danger gestured for Obi-Wan to lower his saber. As they retracted their blades, Xanatos growled, "Dioxis." He didn't have to elaborate for his apprentice to know exactly what that meant. The Jedi sucked in deep breaths of air while the oxygen was still clean and needed only to exchange glances to be on the same page in terms of what to do next.

Unorthodox and mildly dangerous as it was, Xanatos simply took to walking out of the room and found himself face to face with a flock of droids. "Come now" he exhaled deeply, running a hand through his disheveled hair, "You didn't think it would be that easy to kill us, did you?" The droids were perplexed at the Knight's words and one in the front row even let out a dumbfounded "Um..." before another shouted, "Fire!"

Xanatos unceremoniously rolled his eyes, quickly drawing his lightsaber to deflect the shot fired at him. His apprentice followed the suit and wiped out the rather incompetent group of attackers with ease. The two followed the presense of living beings to a large steel door that seemed to lead to the cockpit of the flagship.

Xanatos turned away from the door for a moment to glance at Obi-Wan but the younger simply waved him off, "I've got your back, you worry about the door." Xanatos nodded and without hesitation, impaled the gate with his glowing green saber. As he began cutting a circle into the steel the clanking of more droids reached his ears followed immediately by the sound of Obi-Wan taking care of them.

However as soon as Xanatos' blade came close to making it all the way around he felt a pressure fall upon his lightsaber. He furrowed his brows, sensing that the door had been reinforced. Irritated, he withdrew his weapon and stabbed it into the door once again, this time pushing faster and harder. But yet again before this circle could be completed the sound of Obi-Wan's voice interrupted him, "Master, destroyers!"

Xanatos let out an exasperated breath as he heard his apprentice's words and returned to the younger's side. As capable as Obi-Wan was, Xanatos also knew how difficult destroyer droids could be. Their shields made it near impossible to defeat them within a desirable amount of time and time was certainly not something the duo had on their hands at the moment. If anything the last thing they would want was to wind up trapped on the Trade Federation's ship without transport or communication with the council. And so when the destroyers rolled up to a halt before them Obi-Wan and Xanatos did the only logical thing to do in their situation; they ran.

In a matter of moments the master and padawan were making their escape through the ventilation system. It was the only way to get by undetected and despite how little they liked the idea it was necessary. When they finally navigated their way to a vent exit in the hangar they found it grilled shut. Of course it didn't hinder them for very long; Xanatos was quick to use the force to remove the metal bars blocking his path. He leaped from the vent to the ground noiselessly and made a mental note to have a word with Obi-Wan regarding the matter later when the younger's boots clicked against the floor upon his own landing. For now however Xanatos focused on ducking for cover behind stacks of steel crates near them.

Once they were hidden out of view they looked out into the hangar and much to their surprise, came face to face with an army of droids. "Battle droids?" Obi-Wan vocalized his master's thoughts.

"It's an invasion army" Xanatos mumbled absentmindedly, trying to figure out the answer to the exact question Obi-Wan would ask next, "Why would the Trade Federation have an invasion army?"

Xanatos pondered for a moment longer before answering, "I don't know but we have to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum." Obi-Wan nodded in silent agreement before suggesting, "Should we split up? Stow aboard separate ships, see what we can find and meet down at the planet?"

Xanatos smiled at his apprentice coming up with a plan he couldn't have worded better himself. Bursts of pride such as these weren't uncommon for Xanatos; Obi-Wan was and always had been a highly rewarding apprentice that could enlighten Xanatos' mood during even the darkest of times simply by showing off just how alike they'd become over the years.

"Precisely" Xanatos approved, "I'll see you down on Naboo, Obi-Wan" he placed a firm hand on his apprentice's shoulder as a gesture of affection before drawing to his full height and taking off to find himself a ride. The exchange lifted Obi-Wan's spirits as much as it did his master. There wasn't much else that meant as much to him as the approval of his master and even the small amount of praise he was given was enough to get him on his feet mere moments after the elder; he had a droid transport to catch.

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**So that was the first rewrite chapter introducing or two main characters of the series, Xanatos and Obi-Wan who is his apprentice in this little au here. I changed their characteristics and relationship around significantly from what it was before and hopefully it was all for the better. Anywho, ****constructive criticism questions, comments, suggestions, anything at all is welcome, I love to hear from my audience. I'm shooting for Friday for the next chapter. Till then toodles :)**


	3. Life Debts

**Hello lovelies, here once again with the third chapter of Fifteen, There's Still Time. Hope you enjoy any any kind of feedback is very much appreciated :)**

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To say that Xanatos was immensely irate at the fact that he was on the run (quite literally on his feet) from an invasion army in the forests bordering Theed would be quite the understatement. The Jedi Knight had never been one to get down and dirty and feeling one with nature (Qui-Gon's enthusiasm for all things related to the living force was enough for both of them.) Xanatos was more of a diplomat, even more so an avid fighter; this running business was not something he enjoyed. And as if to make his mission all the more difficult there were droids stationed around that he had to avoid unless he wanted to defend himself while running as well. Not that the battle droids were difficult to deal with, just an unwanted nuisance.

Still, Xanatos plowed on hoping to find his apprentice sooner rather than later. Half way through his trek though a Gungan ran into his path and upon seeing shots being fired became alarmed and latched on to him as soon as he was close enough. Finding no other solution to his sudden predicament, Xanatos took to hiding behind the closest tree, clamping a hand over the Gungan's mouth to cease its frightened blithering. Of course that didn't do the trick as the Gungan began flailing its arms and legs so Xanatos sent it a rather strong force suggestion, "Shut up, damn it."

The Knight waited till the things he was running from all seemed to pass before releasing the now subdued Gungan He palmed the dirt off himself before giving the Gungan a wayward glance to make sure it was in one piece. Having done that he'd completed his role of being an internebulan guardian and so walked off, resuming his search for his wayward apprentice. He didn't get very far though before a voice behind him caught him so off guard that he spun around, hand at his lightsaber.

"Oh muy muy I love you!" The Gungan shouted out, not intimidated in the least by Xanatos' battle ready gaze. "I wish I could say the same about you, pal" the Jedi grumbled as he turned to continue walking along. He was able to savor the silence that had overcome the forest for a brief moment until the Gungan decided to speak up once again, "Meesa called Jar Jar Binks! Meesa your humble servant!" Xanatos silently cursed his failure to remember what he'd learned about Gungan traditions before he'd saved Jar Jar's life.

But before he could comment on the matter, he heard shots being fired to his left and immediately commanded Jar Jar to get down. He then joined the fray upon seeing Obi-Wan running in his direction, deflecting a shot here and there but focusing mainly on reaching his master. Xanatos was quick to go to his padawan's aid and deflect the droids shots back to destroy them. "Are you ok?" Xanatos asked as his panting apprentice came to a stop before him. "More or less, yes" Obi-Wan answered, stowing his lightsaber. Xanatos opened his mouth to relay the next plan of action but before he could, Jar Jar stood up between the two men, "You saved my again!"

"Who's this?" Obi-Wan raised a brow. "Jar Jar Binks, Obi-Wan Kenobi" Xanatos deadpanned, pointing a finger between the two aforementioned beings, "Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jar Jar Binks. I saved his life so he owes me one. And now that we all know each other we should get going before more droids show up." Obi-Wan failed to greet Jar Jar with as much enthusiasm as the Gungan greeted him. They both followed along when Xanatos began to walk but Jar Jar had something to say first. "Excueze me!" He called after the Jedi, " But the most safest place would be Gunga City! Is where I grew up! Tis a hidden city!" That got Xanatos' attention. He pivoted to face the Gungan, "I assume you're telling us this because you can take us there, Jar Jar." Jar Jar shifted for a moment before he spoke up, "Uh, on second thought," Xanatos rolled his eyes the second the words left the Gungan's mouth, "No, not really no."

"Well then why in the name of the Force's great galaxy did you bring it up?" Obi-Wan beat Xanatos to verbalizing his irritation. "This embarrassing..." Jar Jar hesitated, "But my afraid my has been banished. My forgotten! The bosses will do terrible things to me! _Terrible_ things to me if me going back there!" Obi-Wan and Xanatos fished for ways to work around their dilemma when suddenly one was provided for them. The sound of droid transports barreling through the forest sounded from a ways off and Xanatos was quick to jump on the opportunity.

"You hear that?" he asked in a low voice, pointing over his shoulder. Jar Jar raised his ear and put a hand near it to listen closer. "That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way." Obi-Wan continued, taking a step closer to the Gungan He was clearly enjoying how intimated Jar Jar suddenly became and diminished what personal space the creature had the right to. "If they find us they will crush us" Xanatos added bemusedly following his padawan's suit. "Grind us into tiny pieces," Obi-Wan whispered before both Jedi simultaneously shouted, "And _blast_ us into oblivion!" They had to fight rather hard to keep themselves from bursting into laughter at Jar Jar's expense but they certainly did feel each other's amusement through their bond.

Their play of intimidation clearly paid off as the now slightly frightened Jar Jar replied, "Ah, yousa point is well seen. This way!" As he whirled around to lead the way Obi-Wan ducked out of the way of the Gungan's giant flopping ears. He exchanged a bemused glance with his master before the pair followed their rambunctious guide to what they hoped would be a safe place to plan their next course of action.


	4. Thrill of the Day

**Hello munchkins, sorry this took a while. Real life and what not, you know? Anywho I'm on spring break now which means you can expect many chapters very soon so heads up and enjoy! :)**

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Of all the places Xanatos wanted to be after his and Obi-Wan's wild goose chase of a mission in Mandalore, standing in front of the Gungan leaders trying to persuade them to help out the very civilization they hid away from was not one of them. Yes, diplomacy had always been a strong point of Xanatos' as he was good with words but he also had a thorough love of action and the speed of day. Two things he could never hope to achieve in his current situation.

"Yousa cannot bees here. Thees army of mechneecs up there is you problemsss" Boss Nass spoke with the utmost confidence in himself. Xanatos resisted the urge to sigh in an attempt to look stubborn and resilient himself and instead spoke firmly, "Once those droids take control of the surface, they will take control of you. Your people and the Naboo form a co-dependent circle; what happens to one of you will affect the other, you must understand this."

Much to Xanatos' frustration though, logic and reasoning seemed to have to affect on the Gungan ruler. So deciding he didn't have the time to waste on trying to push a mountain instead he opted for a new solution. "So you must want to send us on our way" he relayed with a slight force suggestion. That seemed to have done the trick as Boss Nass dumbly repeated, "Weesa gonna send yousa on yousa way."

"We could use some sort of transport" Xanatos continued, this time with a stronger suggestion and a flicker of his hand."Weesa give yousa a bongo. Yousa goos through the planet core! Now go!" Despite the malicious look that came onto Boss Nass' face upon the mention of the planet core, the Jedi decided it would be best to take the Gungan's suggestion and leave. As they began walking to the exit, Obi-Wan shot Xanatos a look of disapproval. "What? Desperate times call for desperate measures" the older Jedi shrugged, instantly assumed that his apprentice was unhappy about his use of the force to manipulate others but the younger was quick to set him straight. "Master, Jar Jar" Obi-Wan said firmly, nodding in the captive Gungan's direction.

Xanatos groaned. He knew he shouldn't have let Obi-Wan spend so much time with Qui-Gon in his youth. Over the years the young man had taken on his grandmaster's unusual habit of picking up pathetic life forms wherever they went. Xanatos simply could not catch a break on missions with those two. Sensing his apprentice's compassion for the creature that he was sure was going to meet a terrible fate, Xanatos turned back to Boss Nass and cleared his throat. The Gungan had brought them one step closer to Theed after all, Xanatos reasoned with himself. The least he could do was free the fellow.

"One more thing your highness" Xanatos said, exhaling deeply, "Jar Jar Binks here owes me what you call a life debt. Your Gods demand that he belongs to me now." Boss Nass didn't look very pleased but then again that was quite likely his default facial expression as far as either of the Jedi were concerned. "Binks?" Boss Nass hissed, "Yousa have a life play with thisn hisn?"

Jar Jar nodded enthusiastically and afterward looked as though he'd never been happier to be told to be gone before in his life. "Thanks you for your help, we leave in peace" Xanatos spoke as soon as Jar Jar was released by the guard that'd been holding him captive. The Jedi bowed and were off in a heartbeat, not eager to stay in the scrutinizing presence of the Gungans any longer than they had to be.

As they mounted their transport Obi-Wan took the chance to thank his master for the rescuing of their third passenger (who was having some rather extreme difficulties getting strapped in to the back seat.) Xanatos could only smile; seeing his padwan pleased made him pleased in turn and he was sure Obi-Wan knew that very well. They took off to Theed with Xanatos driving as Obi-Wan had always been more of a rider than driver, Jar Jar blithering on about his worries and concerns and their improvised course of action falling into place.

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Walking straight up to the pack of battle droids acting as escorts to the queen and other captives would be considered reckless by some but to Obi-Wan it was nothing he wasn't used to seeing his master do. He knew the older Jedi had a craving for the rush and a thirst for the adventure and so he had adapted himself to these ways years ago. Sometimes Obi-Wan thought Xanatos went out of his way to make their situation more difficult solely so he could find a solution to it and give himself a challenge.

Once the droids spotted them they immediately began firing. Glancing back once to make sure Jar Jar was out of the line of the cross fire, Obi-Wan and Xanatos tagged teamed to easily wipe them out. While Obi-Wan called to the force to sweep the droids away, Xanatos wielded his lightsaber to slice through them. This was how it usually went with them. With Obi-Wan using a defensive Soresu style of combat and Xanatos using an offensive Niman they balanced each other nearly perfectly. Once the droids were taken care of, Xanatos twirled his saber contently before deactivating it; the fight satisfied him. As he glowed in their victory, Obi-Wan turned to the queen and her men to announce, "We are ambassadors from the supreme chancellor."

"Your negotiations seem to have failed ambassador" one of the rescued replied. Obi-Wan was caught just a bit off guard by the icy words. Seeing this Xanatos took over, "The negotiations never took place." His tone was equally as grating seeing as he didn't take very kindly to having his apprentice spoken to that way. He turned to a man he identified as a captain by his attire before speaking again, "It's urgent that we make contact with the republic."

"They have knocked out all our communications" the man replied. "You have transport then, I assume?" Xanatos asked. "Yes, but in the main hangar. Our pilots are being held there by those blasted droids" the captain sounded troubled. Obi-Wan and Xanatos exchanged eager glances before the knight replied, "Trust me, that won't be a problem at all."

Once the runaway Nubians and Jedi reached the main hangar Xanatos stopped to speak to the queen. "Considering the circumstances I would recommend that you return to Coruscant with us. No doubt these Federation scum will take your life without hesitation if they find you and with all due respect your highness, the chancellor cannot help you free your planet if you are no longer with us." The queen only took a moment to think before nodding, "Then I will plead our case to the senate."

"Good" and with that word Xanatos strode right into the hangar, lightsaber blazing. At first the queen hesitated to follow the Jedi who behaved as only a mad man would, but when Obi-Wan urged her along, she complied. "Get to a ship" Obi-Wan ordered before leaving the queen's side to instruct the pilots that Xanatos had drawn the battle droids away from. He then returned to his master's side and the two worked together as they usually did, overcoming every obstacle they were faced with without exerting very much energy. Their reliance on each other kept them from tiring easily. When they were finished with the last of the droids they joined the others in the starship they had chosen to prepare for the long ride home.

Just over an hour after taking off from Naboo, Xanatos thought himself foolish to have thought that the Force would have allowed them a simple and uneventful journey back to Coruscant. The almighty forces had never made things easy for him and Obi-Wan and he should have known better than to think it would have then. The Jedi master stood over one of the pilot's shoulders, staring at a screen that showed the droids working to repair the damage done to the ship as they tried to surpass the blockade. Xanatos' lips were set into a deep frown as he watched the droids get knocked out one by one. The look vanished into that of surprise however when the one little astromech droid did his thing and returned the power to them. Instantly the cockpit was bustling again as people rushed to do get them out of the Federation's reach as fast as possible.

"There's not enough power to get us to Coroscant! The hyperdrive is leaking" the pilot said looking over the scanners. Xanatos took a look himself to double check and frowned once again as he pondered their dilemma, "We'll have to land somewhere to refuel and repair the ship then." He looked over to his apprentice who already knew what was being asked of him and slipped over to a radar of the nearby systems. "Tattoine" Obi-Wan said tapping the screen to show the stats of the planet. Xanatos looked over his shoulder to the readings and nodded, "The Trade Federation has no presence in Tattoine and while Hutts aren't the best company, they're not looking for the Queen so we'd have an advantage there." He looked around the cockpit to see if anyone disproved of his plan and when everyone remained silent Xanatos moved back over to the pilot, "Alright then, buddy, we are now officially Tattoine bound."

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**Well, that was that. Things start to take off a bit more after the boys land on Tattoine, trust me. I'll be focusing a bit more on Obi-Wan and Xanatos' relationship in the near future because after all they are the main characters and I was you all to see the closeness of their relationship the way I do :) As usual, suggestions, courteous criticism and comments are welcome. Till next time lovelies. **


	5. Meeting of the Fates

**Hello again lovelies. Here's the fourth one for ya. You get to see the characters personalities a bit closer in this one, specifically Xan, Obi and Padme so enjoy :)**

* * *

With the permission of the queen the grand Nubian ship landed on the outskirts of a settlement in Tattoine. In no time Xanatos was ready to head into town to get what they needed and get out as fast as possible. With strict instructions to Captain Panaka, Xanatos, Obi-Wan and their hero of an astromech droid exited the ship onto the sandy planet when the captain himself called back to them. His request to bring one of the queen's handmaidens didn't sit well with either of the Jedi.

"The inhabitants of this planet are unpredictable and are renown for their temper. It's not safe for anyone that isn't trained to deal with their kind," Xanatos masked his irritation with facts.

"The Queen wishes to see the planet, she's curious about it" Panaka insisted. With a sigh Xanatos gave in, deciding he didn't have the time to argue with the captain or the queen's orders.

"Fine" he said before turning to begin the walk over again. His robes billowed in the wind as he led the way, Obi-Wan at one of his sides and the handmaiden at the other.

"Alright, listen, the last thing we want to do is get on the queen's bad side by losing track of her charge so stay close to either me, I'm Xanatos Omega, or my apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi," Xanatos spoke to the handmaiden firmly but not with disdain, "And what"s your name?"

"Padme" she spoke confidently, "Thank you, for your concern master Jedi, but perhaps you should focus on keeping track of your own charge instead of me." While Xanatos's jaw rippled at being spoken to that way by such a young girl, Obi-Wan looked off to the side with a bit of a smirk upon hearing Padme's words. He found it incredibly amusing every time civilians referred to Xanatos as a master and he became all too pleased with himself. But having Padme talk back to him and damage his ego, that was the funniest of all. His silent amusement earned him a glare from Xanatos as well.

They remained silent for the rest of the trip until they reached the town at which point Obi-Wan found it necessary to ask, "Master, where exactly are we going?"

"A small place" Xanatos replied "It's usually the best hidden dealers that have the largest stocks." Obi-Wan didn't necessarily want to know how his master had come to acquire that information and so followed the older's intuition without question-not that he'd ever question Xanatos' intuition in the first place. Contrary to what his companions were lead to believe in the situation, Xanatos had not simply arbitrarily picked a shop, rather he ducked into the one of his choice because of a strong force presence he felt within it. Finding it curious in a place like Tattoine he decided to investigate under the incentive of searching for a new hyperdrive. Once they entered the shop they were met by a Toydarian that flew over from behind the counter to greet Xanatos in Huttish. With the limited amount of Huttish that he'd picked up from his time trying to rally outer rim planets for his father, Xanatos replied, "We need parts for a J Type 327 Nubian."

"Ah yes, Nubian!" the creature beamed, "We have lots of those!" He turned to a backroom behind him and called out, "Boy, get in here!" Within seconds a small boy no older than nine or taller than Xanatos' waist came running over. The presence of the force surrounding the boy struck both Jedi as soon as he entered the room and they exchanged unsure glances before they were taken from their thoughts by the Toydarian. "What took you so long?" the Toydarian named Watto chastised in Huttish as the boy approached him.

"I was cleaning up in the back!" the boy replied defiantly.

"Watch the shop until I get back" Watto ordered, sneering at the child's all too independent behavior.

"Now lette me take you outa back, eh?" Watto turned his attention back to Xanatos, "You'll find what you need." Although Xanatos wished to look more into the boy who seemed to be the source of the immense force presence in the premises, he followed Watto. He glanced back at Obi-Wan once and it was enough to convey to his apprentice that he was to do what Xanatos couldn't with the child. R2 shifted along with Xanatos and Padme stayed behind beside Obi-Wan.

"What's that you're working on?" Padme eventually asked as a means of starting a conversation when the boy picked up a small droid and began probing with it to pass the time. "A broken pit droid" the child spoke without looking up, "It's supposed to turn off when you hit the nose but this one just keeps going till you pull the plug on it. I just need to tweak it a little more before I can get it to work again." Padme was visibly impressed, "You know how to fix droids?"

"I tinker" the younger shrugged.

"What's your name, buddy?" Obi-Wan asked inserting himself into the conversation.

"Anakin Skywalker, sir" Anakin replied looking up at Obi-Wan for the first time.

"No need for the formalities, Anakin, you can call me Obi-Wan," the Jedi smiled. Anakin eyed the padawan warily before speaking up, "Are you a Jedi, Obi-Wan?" The shock was evident on Obi-Wan's face upon hearing the words. He instinctively looked down at himself, searching for any inkling that may have given him away and saw the the hilt of his lightsaber was just barely visible on his waist. How a slave boy like Anakin would have recognized a lightsaber was beyond Obi-Wan but he plainly replied, "Yes I am, how did you know?"

"Your Jedi sword" Anakin shrugged returning to his droid, "I saw those in a story book my mom gave me once." Obi-Wan nodded, continuing to initiate the boy in conversation, analyzing the slave just as much as Anakin was analyzing him.

Meanwhile Xanatos and Watto were engaged in a barter over the much needed hyperdrive. "I'm the only one around here who hasa a T14 hyperdrive generator" Watto argued.

"Yes, but I only have Republic Credits that I am willing to offer you a large amount of, and realistically speaking no one is ever going to come out this far for a Nubian hyperdrive again" Xanatos replied calmly, wishing more than ever that force suggestions worked on Toydarians.

"Did you not hear me, Republic credits are no good out here. No money, no hyperdrive, that's that" Watto growled. Xanatos looked down and exhaled deeply as he surveyed his options. "I'll give you this astromech droid here, as a matter of fact I can offer you as many as fifteen droids and a Gungan that will do your bidding as well" he looked up again after a moment. R2 beeped in awe as Xanatos wagered him.

Watto didn't think long before declaring, "No." Xanatos was visibly irritated. He could sense that Watto was using the Jedi's Republic wealth to his advantage, testing their desperation to see how much they'd be willing to offer for a single hyperdrive. "Well then it was nice doing business with you" Xanatos said coldly before turning his back to the creature. As he made his way back indoors a rather interesting conversation took place:

"You feel different." When Obi-Wan raised a brow, Anakin continued, "It was like a light was walking towards me when you and your friend came in. A really bright light that doesn't come from anyone else around here." Obi-Wan opened his mouth to ask Anakin what he meant by that but at that moment Xanatos re-entered the shop, seeming much less enthusiastic than he'd been when he'd left. Watto shouted after him but Xanatos didn't turn. "Come on, kids, we're leaving" Xanatos said firmly before striding out of the shop.

The Jedi Knight walked aimlessly once they exited and Obi-Wan knew that full well but judging by the power in the elder's strides it would be best not to disturb his thoughts. Padme followed closely at Xanatos' heels and R2 lounged along, relieved that he wasn't sold off to a grimy parts dealer. After a moment Xanatos pivoted and almost manically suggested, "We _could_ steal it."

"No master, Jedi don't steal no matter how distasteful the victim is" Obi-Wan sighed. He knew exactly how to deal with Xanatos when the knight was like this. "You're right, we'll kill him" Xanatos quirked, staring up at the sky instead of the young man he was speaking to. "No master, we're not killing him" Obi-Wan flatly refused. "Alright, we're selling all of the queen's belongings" Xanatos finally spoke logically and turned in the direction of their ship.

"There we go, atta boy, Xanatos" Obi-Wan muttered as his master's manic state died down as it always did once he had a logical idea. Padme didn't look very pleased to hear the knight's new plan but didn't verbally protest to it. En route to the ship however they found the winds picking up and not too long after they left Watto's shop, little Anakin Skywalker caught up to them.

"Wait!" He shouted as he ran to them. He addressed Obi-Wan and Padme (both of whom he was already acquainted to) when he finally came to a stop in front of them, "There's a storm coming, where's your ship?" Xanatos observed the boy closely as Obi-Wan responded, "Just on the outskirts of town."

Anakin shook his head, "You'll never make it in time. My place is a lot closer, come with me."

Obi-Wan looked rather perplexed by the sudden offer from a boy he'd met mere minutes ago. "Where do you live?" Xanatos spoke up, interested in engaging the boy himself.

"Just over there, trust me we'll make it there faster than to your ship" Anakin turned to speak to Xanatos with the same confidence that he'd spoken to Obi-Wan, not phased in the slightest by Xanatos' height, structure or serious expression. "Alright then, lead the way, young one" Xanatos gestured a hand out in front of himself.

"My name is Anakin Skywalker and I'm not that young; I'm nine years old, ok?" Anakin said, turning back to glance at Xanatos briefly as he walked ahead. "

It's a pleasure to meet you, Anakin, my name is Xanatos Omega and I'm thirty three years old," Xanatos replied, staying a step back to leave Anakin some sort of higher ground, "This is Obi-Wan, he's twenty one and this is Padme. Padme, how old are you, dear?" The subtle but well intended mocking was evident in his voice and it was something that only Obi-Wan was accustomed to as Xanatos tended to teach lessons with it rather often.

"Fourteen" Padme replied behind a cough. Xanatos' brows went up before he returned his attention to Anakin, "And Padme's fourteen." Anakin, having caught the gist of what Xanatos was saying very well simply huffed and walked along. The remainder of the short trip to the Skywalker residence was silent as each person was left to their own thought about their situation.

Upon entering the hovel Anakin greeted his mother who seemed just a bit startled at her son bringing home guests twice his age and introducing them as friends.

"Hello" Xanatos greeted as politely as he could, holding out his hand for a shake, "Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter from the storm. My name is Xanatos Omega, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padme" he introduced pointing to each person as he said their name.

"Shmi Skywalker, I'm Anakin's mother" Shmi smiled, taking Xanatos' hand, "It's always a pleasure to help the guardians of the galaxy." Xanatos was just as surprised as Obi-Wan had been to hear that someone this far out recognized a Jedi simply by look, but decided not to say anything about it. He simply smiled back at her, acknowledging her hospitality.

"Please, make yourselves at home, dinner will be ready shortly" Shmi said warmly before heading back to the kitchen, leaving her guests to their own devices.

"If you have to spend the night here one of you can stay in my room and we've got two couches or someone can share a room with mom" Anakin suggested just as Obi-Wan and Xanatos made to sit down and discuss their next plan of action.

"We'd hate to trouble your mother, Anakin" Xanatos replied, "Obi-Wan and I can take the couches as we're rather used to roughing it and Padme can stay in your room. As a matter of fact, Padme why don't you go and get settled down in Anakin's room right now." Xanatos didn't put much effort into hiding his attempt to remove Padme from the premises so he could speak to his apprentice alone, but he suspected his gentle tone made up for it-or not as he earned a side eyed glance as the young handmaiden followed Anakin upstairs. Once they were out of earshot Xanatos sat down on a couch across from Obi-Wan and let out an all too exasperated sigh. He looked over at his apprentice, who beat him to speaking, "I know, I know, just our luck, I asked for adventure, I know...shut up."

* * *

**Yup, enter baby Anakin. This chapter was mainly to emphasize the difference between Xanatos and Qui-Gon's ways of handling the same situation.**

**Anywho, I'm rambling again. Feedback, constructive criticism, comments, suggestions, everything's welcome, I love to hear from your guys. Till next time :)**


	6. Ask, Seek, Knock

**Hello once again my lovelies. Here's the next installment of Xan and Obi's adventures. Enjoy :)**

* * *

Dinner at the Skywalker hovel wasn't what Xanatos, Obi-Wan and especially Padme were used to but neither of the three seemed to mind. While the Jedi were used to roughing it and simply grateful for anything Shmi had to offer, Padme was more involved with her people than the media knew and was accustomed to living off of the royal lifestyle. As the wind howled outside, the six people gathered around the dinner table engaged in conversation.

"All slaves have transmitters placed inside their bodies somewhere" Shmi said in response to Obi-Wan's question about why they didn't just run away from Watto.

"I've been working on a scanner to try and locate them, but no luck so far" Anakin sighed, picking at his food. "Any attempt to escape they blow you up. Poof!" Anakin gestured grandly with his hands.

"I can't believe there is still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's anti-slavery laws-"

"The Republic doesn't exist out here. We must survive on our own" Shmi cut off Padme's verbal pondering. The room fell into silence as each person wished there was something they could so to help the situation.

"Have you ever seen a Podrace?" Anakin asked in an attempt to break the ice. The remaining people in the room shook their heads no. Xanatos, out of the corner of his eye noticed the concern that came across Shmi's face at the mention of racing.

"Xanatos and I have seen a few between missions" Obi-Wan recalled.

"I wish I could try it. Watto says that maybe when I'm older he'll let me do it" Anakin said proudly. Shmi gave her son a disapproving look.

"What?" Anakin asked, before even looking at his mother's expression "I'm not bragging. It's true. Watto says he's never heard of a human doing it but he thinks I could."

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you can race Pods" Xanatos thought out loud. The sentence seemed to have set Anakin in deep thought as a moment later he spoke hesitantly, "I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves. Have you come to free us?"

"I'm afraid not, pal" Xanatos clicked his teeth but followed it up with an encouraging smile, "But hey, it's not my place to free all the slaves, is it? That's your dream."

"Why _are_ you here then?" Anakin asked in sudden suspicion.

"We are actually on our way to Coruscant on a very important mission" Xanatos sighed, expecting Anakin to know that he wasn't to tell another soul about younger furrowed his brows, "How did you end up here in the outer rim then?"

"Our ship was damaged, and we were forced to land it here," Padme spoke for the first time in a while, "And we don't have the parts to repair it either so we're stranded."

"We tried to pay Watto in Republic Credits but they're an invalid form of currency out here apparently" Xanatos picked up.

"Yes, but these junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind" Obi-Wan reasoned, refusing to accept the possibility of being stranded on such a dull planet for long.

"Gambling" Shmi was quick to state, "Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races."

"Watto has a racer!" Anakin brought up even faster, "There's a big race tomorrow, on Boonta Eve but he's having his stupid pilot race for him. I wish he'd let me pilot it for him instead. I can do it, I know I can! I could help you guys, you know, I could race and you can wager your parts on my win and then you can go on your way!"

As much as Xanatos would have liked to say yes on the spot, he looked to Shmi instead, who looked visibly upset by her son's suggestion. She didn't verbalize her concerns as she was clearly interested in helping the Jedi but Xanatos didn't wish to repay Shmi's hospitality by making her son do something she didn't want.

"No, Anakin, it would be far too risky" Xanatos shook his head despite how much of a risk taker he was by nature. "Is there anyone else around here friendly to the Republic who might be able to help us?" He asked to which Shmi immediately shook her head. "We have to help them, Mom. You said that the biggest problem in the universe is no one helps each other and-"

"Anakin, I'd hate to put you in any harm's way after your mother has shown us such kindness. We'll find another way, buddy" Xanatos offered the boy a small smile. Anakin opened his mouth to respond, but Xanatos beat him to it, "No, Anakin. You've got my final word; no." The younger finally settled down at the firm words and returned to picking at his food. Xanatos exchanged a low gaze with Shmi before doing the same, and the rest of dinner passed by in silence.

* * *

That night before everyone in the Skywalker hovel retired, Xanatos received a call on his comm unit from none other than Captain Panaka. The Captain had called with unfortunate news of a distressing transmission that had been sent to the ship from Naboo. After instructing Panaka to send no reply as the message was likely a sham, Xanatos explained that they would have to stay behind a few days longer than planned to acquire the necessary parts. An unsatisfied Captain hesitantly accepted the Jedi's decision and wished them luck.

"How exactly do you plan to attain those parts anyway?" Padme asked once the call had been disconnected.

"We wing it" Xanatos shrugged nonchalantly despite the handmaiden's genuinely concerned expression.

"We wing it? The Queen would not approve of that idea in the slightest" Padme frowned, the distress becoming more and more visible on her face.

"What the Queen does not know will not hurt her" Obi-Wan replied with a sly smile despite the fact that Padme had addressed his master. Xanatos gave Obi-Wan a rather amused look and Padme looked as though she wanted to say something, but instead looked away for a moment before standing up, "Well then I suppose I should retire."

"Good night to you" both Jedi murmured in unison, nodding their heads slightly. "Have fun bunking with our junior friend" Obi-Wan called after her, causing Xanatos to nearly choke on his sudden laugh. Anakin's seeming infatuation clearly hadn't gone unnoticed by the Jedi. Padme looked back at the two men with a sour expression before leaving their line of vision.

Xanatos chuckled and shook his head before kicking back and laying down on the couch that he was sitting on, "It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Obi-Wan made a noise of agreement before laying down himself on the couch across from the elder Jedi. He closed his eyes to drift off to sleep, but a more than familiar voice had other ideas. "Obi-Wan...you sense Anakin's force presence as well, don't you?" Xanatos spoke low enough so just the two of them could hear.

"Of course. It's rather hard to miss, glowing like a beacon the way it does" Obi-Wan replied, recalling his previous conversation with Anakin, "When we first met he told me that we 'felt' different. That you and I were like glowing lights walking towards us when no one else was. He sensed us, master."

"Well he's force sensitive, that's for sure, but his presence is unusual-strong, much stronger than it should be in a child" Xanatos muttered, staring up at the cracked ceiling.

"What do you think it means?" Obi-Wan muttered tiredly.

Instead of replying Xanatos remained silent for a long moment. "I don't quite know, but can you imagine what a child of that magnitude could do? The power he'd be able to wield? That is assuming he's properly trained-which he'd need to stay in line. He's old but imagine training a child like that." Xanatos clicked his teeth and exhaled deeply, "Anyway, I'm going to call in. I'm beat."

He seemed oblivious, as he turned over on the couch and closed his eyes, to his apprentice who adapted not just a grim expression, but emotions as well at the mention of his master speaking of the training of another.

* * *

**Chapter five for you lovelies. Things still haven't diverged very much aside from the small more Xanatos-like things altered here and there. I imagine that because of his emotional but maverick like nature Xanatos is a lot more sensitive to the feelings of the people around him whereas Qui-Gon seemed to plow through the entire ordeal on Tattoine focusing only on himself and Anakin. I also couldn't figure out for the life of me why Qui-Gon had brought Jar Jar along with them when going into town to buy parts for the first time so I figure Xanatos wouldn't do something that would hinder him that way. Instead he brought along Obi-Wan, who is more of a consultant, friend and brother to him rather than his apprentice.**

**Oops I rambled. What can I say, once I get started with Star Wars talk I just can't stop ;) Anywho, let me know what you thought, comments, questions, suggestions, constructive criticism anything of the kind, I love hearing from you guys.**


	7. Skirmish

**Hello hello :) Sorry for being MIA for some time. Preparations for college are killing me. People aren't kidding when they say they'd never want to relive their senior year of high school, yikes. Anyway, here's the next for for you and once again, sorry for the way. Enjoy!**

* * *

Obi-Wan, though adventurous and thoroughly active most times, wasn't one for the party scene. He was never one to join the other padawan in sneaking out to clubs and other such entertainment facilities. He sought for a different kind of thrill rather than that of losing his conscious mind after one too many irresponsible drinks and risking getting in trouble with his trusting master. But after hearing the aforementioned master marveling on about Anakin the night before, Obi-Wan decided that an early morning walk would do him good and when he passed a cantina, he simple couldn't pass up the opportunity.

To be honest it seemed a bit ridiculous to him, thinking that Xanatos would try to replace him with a new shiny toy. That just wasn't his style; the man was more emotional than most to the point where he still had bottle caps from Obi-Wan's teenage years sitting around their quarters back at the temple. He preserved the charred and broken lightsaber that Obi-Wan had lost use of during their first outer rim mission and remembered people's names from decades ago. There was no way he'd simply discard of a bond and friendship developed over so many years-or at least that was how the rational half of Obi-Wan's mind put it. The irrational half, which seemed to have more impact with fewer words and less effort simply told him that crazier things had happened before and he was rather close to being knighted himself anyways. Whose to say Xanatos wasn't scoping out a new apprentice to take his place once he was gone?

The thoughts fogged up Obi-Wan's mind as he approached the counter to order a drink, but found even that to be a difficult task as he ddin't speak a word of Huttish. He growled a few curses under his breath in frustration and in the heat of the moment, slammed his fist against the counter, not loud enough to cause a ruckus, but with enough force to shake the mug of the creature next to him. Obi-Wan didn't even notice what had happened till the creature shoved him roughly on the shoulder. Stumbling to the side, he looked up, feeling confused on the inside but radiating anger on the outside. The gruesome three eyes beast began blithering on in Huttish, to which Obi-Wan couldn't say much, but he could half-heartedly mutter, "I mean you no harm, please leave me be."

The creature didn't seem to be pacified and instead shoved Obi-Wan once again, this time harder. And just as the padawan's hand reached for his lightsaber, a familiar figure appeared between him and his attacker. With a sweet smile on her face and a soft air to her, Padme spoke to the creature who she knew had no idea what she was saying. Still, she banked on the batting of her lashes to take her where her words couldn't, and they did.

"Please, don't hurt my friend, we apologize for however he may have offended you. Please, accept this as an apology and have another drink." With her words, she released a few coins from her palm and let them clatter onto the counter.

The creature nodded and grunted, seeming more pleased than he had been a moment before, and taking the window of opportunity, Padme grabbed Obi-Wan by the elbow and took off towards the exit.

"Come on, stop dragging your feet" she chastised as they stepped out into the blistering Tattoine heat, "It's not going to take them forever to figure out those are Republic Credits, you know."

A somewhat startled Obi-Wan did as he was told and when his elbow was released, he walked by Padme's side, finally summing up the coherency to say, "Thanks. I don't know what happened in there to be honest, I just-"

"You are most welcome" Padme nodded, "I told Mr. Omega he was better off watching his own charge instead of me but of course he wouldn't listen."

"Ah right, speaking of Xanatos, could you maybe not mention this to him?" Obi-Wan requested slowly, "Please?"

"Sure thing, skirmish" Padme rolled her eyes half-heartedly, internally smug at the leverage she now had against the padawan. Obi-Wan didn't seem very amused by the new nickname, but he remained silent.

A few hovels down Padme and Obi-Wan noticed Watto standing outside his shop, shouting manically in Huttish at a seemingly injured creature with Xanatos, Anakin and R2D2 standing close by. They made their way over as not to interrupt Watto's tirade and upon seeing them, Xanatos' expression lightened significantly.

"There you two are. Don't go wandering off like that, who knows what could happen out in these parts" Xanatos said in a hushed tone as the two younger came to stand next to him. Obi-Wan frowned as Xanatos usually didn't look down upon his ability in such a way, but didn't get a chance to voice his thoughts as suddenly Anakin joined the heated conversation in his native tongue.

"What's going on?" Padme asked the question right off of Obi-Wan's tongue. Xanatos took a breath and listened for a moment longer before answering, "Watto's pilot who was supposed race in that big event today got himself injured practicing last night and he says he can't race today. Anakin here wants to take his place."

The surprise was evident on both Obi-Wan and Padme's expressions but before either of them could come up with a response, Xanatos piped into the three way exchange as well, "I can sponsor him."

All other members of the area turned to look at Xanatos incredulously, but the Jedi Knight continued wasn't phased. To him this wasn't just some risky wager, it was a chance to prove a hunch. It was a chance to see if Anakin was truly as special as they had all sensed or if he'd simply been running on dumb luck all along, though Xanatos highly doubted this was the case. Either way, he figured this was clearly an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, given to him by the force. "I'll sponsor Anakin to be your new pilot."

"You wanta sponsor him insa race?" Watto asked dubious of Xanatos' offer, "You can't even afford parts. How can you sponsor him?"

"A proposal" Xanatos answered. He only continued once the interest became clear on Watto's face. "We team up; you front the cash for the entry fee and your pod. If we win, you keep all the winnings, minus the cost of the parts I need and if we lose, you keep my ship."

Obi-Wan immediately pitched in through the innate bond that he shared with his master, _"Are you out of your kriffing mind?"_

Xanatos twitched a bit at the sudden shout in his mind, responding mildly with, _"I need you to trust me on this, ok? I have a gut feeling and the force is approving of it so just trust me, ok? Have I ever gotten you into anything I couldn't get you out of?"_

_"This apprenticeship."_

_"Oh, shut up."_

_"Alright, I trust you. Do what you have to."_

With that, Xanatos turned to R2 who produced a small holo-transmitter from his storage. Once turned on the transmitter emitted an image of the Nubian ship they had arrived to the planet on. "The ship is in excellent shape aside from the missing parts. Either way, you walk out of this with something big, think about it."

But the Toydarian deemed the last bit of Xanatos' sentence unnecessary He was quick to accept the offer, but not without a word of, "Me thinks you might be makins a foolish mistake."

Xanatos simply offered a small smile, looking down at Anakin, who was radiating with excitement. He ruffled the child's hair and urged him along, pleased that Watto had taken the bait and hopeful that he hadn't just wagered the fate of everyone on the Queen's ship including herself, for nil.

* * *

Once the deal with Watto was struck, he returned to the Skywalker home with his two younger charges and Watto's pod to polish up. The Jedi Knight of the bunch had excused himself from the group to update Captain Panaka on the situation and as he ended the transmission Shmi joined him on the porch where he'd been watching Padme, Anakin, R2 and Obi-Wan working on the pod in the courtyard below.

"He's a good kid" Xanatos spoke, not moving his eyes from the happenings below, "You should be proud."

"I am" Shmi exhaled. There was a certain sadness to her that was familiar to Xanatos, that he remembered sensing in his own mother back in the day. It was a sadness Xanatos wished he could remove but was also aware of how out of his reach the goal was. "It's rare in children out here, but my Ani knows nothing of greed. He deserves better than a slave's life."

"Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early, and he would have become Jedi, no doubt" Xanatos sighed. It was a shame that such a clearly strong force user hadn't been brought in. It made him wonder how many more were out there in the systems of the great beyond and only fueled his dormant desire to bring Anakin back to the council with him.

"A Jedi?" The sadness in Shmi's tone seemed to grow.

"Once" Xanatos nodded, "He's too old now though..."

"How do you know?" Shmi asked. It seemed not to settle well with her that her son could have had a much different-better life if he'd been born just a bit closer to the Republic. "That he can be a Jedi, I mean."

"I've noticed things about him" Xanatos' eyes wandered back to where Anakin was working hard with the help of his friends, "Observed how he can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It's a Jedi trait. The Force is tremendously strong with him." Xanatos allowed a moment to pass before asked as politely as he could, "If you don't mind me asking, who was his father?"

Shmi's eyes were downcast in an instant. "I don't-I'm not entirely sure. Watto made me pertain to many tasks back in the day before Ani was born on various planets and I-"

"That's enough" Xanatos cut her off. He had no desire to hear any more. She reminded him so much of his own mother and to see her say such things made Xanatos inflected, angry almost.

"Can you help him?" Shmi asked after a moment's silence.

"Possibly, yes," was Xanatos' only response.

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**That was a teensy bit short, I know, but I already have the next chapter written up so it'll be posted much, much sooner. As always, ****let me know what you lovelies thought, comments, questions, suggestions, constructive criticism anything of the kind, I love hearing from you guys.**


	8. The Chosen One

**Hello, lovelies. Sorry for being MIA for some time. College prep and what not has been killing me. School's driving me nuts, I'm so very done with being in high school. Anywho, I'm back and I've done a lot of rewriting on my phone while I've been in classes and what not so updates will be coming sooner :D Excuse me if this chapter's a bit short on the grammar/spelling mark, it's rather late in NYC and my proof reading would be near drunken at this time. I'll get around to it sooner or later though. Enjoy!**

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"I want you to bring me to your spaceship the moment the race is over" Watto spoke coyly, staring out into the stadium hangar.

"Of course, what else would I possibly do. Besides, you know hand you your winnings and be far away from here before the suns set" Xanatos replied with a bite to his tone.

"Not if your ship belongs to me. I warn you, no funny business, Jedi" Watto warned with the wag of a finger. "I hasa great faith in the boy, of course. He's a credit to your race, but Sebulba there is going to win, I think."

"And why's that?" Xanatos raised a brow.

"He always wins. I'm betting heavily on Sebulba beacausa that" Watto laughed. Xanatos was silent for a moment before deciding, "I'll take that bet." Watto suddenly halted his laughter, "What? What do you mean?"

"I'll wager my fully functioning astromech droid for, say the boy and his mother" Xanatos shrugged, doing his best to appear as the one with the upper hand in the situation despite him needing Watto's cooperation rather than the other way around.

"A droid for slaves? I don't think so. Well, perhaps. Just one. The mother, maybe...the boy isn't for sale" Wattoo contemplated the deal heavily.

"The boy is small, he can't be worth much" Xanatos furrowed his brows. While he wanted Anakin to be taken from the terrible life he'd been given he knew that either Skywalker would be useless without the other. Tearing a boy from his mother would be asking for a disaster and Xanatos knew it all too well whereas bringing simply Shmi would evade his goal entirely.

"No pretty droid is worth two slaves, not by a long shot" Watto shook his head. Well if that was the problem, Xanatos thought, quick to step up to the challenge, "Alright then I'll wager the droid along with all of the belongings within my ship, including crew, pilots, captains and thirty odd astro-mech and protocols droids that mind you, will do your bidding without a single question or any need for food, shelter or clothing expenses. For Anakin and his mother and nothing else but the parts I need." The Jedi Knight was aware that he was putting a lot on the line and not just his own and Obi-Wan's lives, but the lives of the Queen and her people as well. He however was quite used to taking risks as great as these with less surety as he had here. He felt it deep within himself and the force that Anakin would not let them down and despite how reluctant Obi-Wan seemed to agree And after all, Xanatos reasoned, the intuition of two exceptional Jedi couldn't be wrong, could they?

"Deal!" Watto announced, much to Xanatos' relief, "You're out of your mind, Jedi, you definitely are."

Xanatos rolled his eyes, for once in agreement, "My friend, you don't even know the half of it." With that he shook on the bet and took off to find Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme and Shmi, who were just arriving in the hangar.

* * *

Of the large semi-circular amphitheater that could hold at least a hundred thousand people, Anakin and company were on the track where all the racers were preparing themselves. In the background a two-headed announcer was booming quick words that not many people on the track kept their ears on. As Obi-Wan touched up a few final things on Anakin's pod, Xanatos looked above to the royal box where Jabba the Hutt had just entered, several slave females chained to him. Xanatos frowned in disgust and turned away.

As Anakin's name was spoken by one of the announcers, the boy looked up and around the arena. "Anakin, be safe, please" his mother's voice distracted him.

"I will, Mom. I promise" Anakin said routinely and was rewarded with a hug and kiss to the forehead. When he was released he took off to check on his pod and Shmi stepped aside. Once she did Padme and R2 approached Anakin to wish him well. Xanatos, who had been observing from a ways off, looked away towards the back of the pod to see what his apprentice was up to. Instead he caught sight of the creature he recognized as Sebulba poking around on the other side of the pod away from Obi-Wan and Anakin. Xanatos walked quietly over and tapped the intruder on the shoulder. A startled Sebulba jumped up and faced the Jedi.

"Is there a problem?" Xanatos asked briskly in Huttish. Sebulba muttered a quick no before sizing Xanatos up, realizing it wasn't worth picking the fight and stalking off. Xanatos eyed the creature all the way back to his pod before calling over to Obi-Wan.

"That little slimeball over there was poking around on this side and I get the feeling he wasn't just here to admire the pod. Take a look at it if you can." Obi-Wan nodded and returned to his touching up on the pod.

Xanatos walked over to Anakin and smiled when the boy looked up at him, "Are you ready, kiddo?" When Anakin nodded half heartedy and Xanatos hoisted the boy into his pod before asking tentatively, "Is everything alright?"

"I..." Anakin began nervously, fidgeting with the hem of his tunic, "I'm a little scared."

"Oh, nonsense, you seemed so excited just the other day!" Xanatos cried, doing his best to lift Anakin's spirits with his child proofed tone.

"Pod racing is easier said than done and there has to be a reason why no other human's been able to do it, right?" Anakin confessed his fears.

"Right, but you're special. I know you know it and I definitely know it. Obi-Wan knows it too, you want to know why?" Xanatos spoke quietly, leaning close to the boy. "Because we see a light in you the way you see a light in us. We're special because this light guides us, shows us the way through life and will certainly show you a way through this if you have faith in it. Us Jedi call that light the Force." Xanatos paused to gauge the youngster's reaction and noticed his hands tighten around the handles. "Use the force, Anakin. Let go. Trust me, you'll be alright, you can do this" he suggested, knowing that the boy probably didn't have a very strong grasp of what he was talking about just yet, but figuring he could use the push of encouragement anyway.

Anakin let out a deep breath through his nose and looked up at Xanatos, Ok, I trust you-I trust the force."

"Atta boy" Xanatos beamed, "Good luck, buddy. And may the Force be with you." He gave the boy a pat on the back and before walked away from the pod as Anakin strapped himself in.

Heading back toward the sidelines, Xanatos peered up to the viewing platform where Padme and Shmi stood. He, Obi-Wan and R2D2 had decided to stay near the track as they would be serving as Anakin's pit crew. However, seeing the clear worry on Shmi's face, Xanatos walked over to her before the platform could rise to reach full viewing potential. Shmi seemed to appreciate it as she began speaking to him the moment he was close enough to hear her, "Is he nervous?"

"He's as confident as ever" Xanatos reassured, and then with a hand to the much older woman's shoulder he added, "He'll be just fine, I'll make sure of it." Padme looked as though she wanted to say something but remained silent.

"I'll make sure this pans out for all of us well, trust me" Xanatos looked to the younger woman this time.

"We do" Padme's voice lacked conviction but Shmi nodded along with her. Xanatos offered them a small smile that perhaps read a bit of thanks for the faith in him as well, before heading back to Obi-Wan.

As he approached his apprentice, Jabba bit off the head of a frog and spat it at a gong beside him, signaling the start of the race.

"Here goes nothing, huh?" Obi-Wan muttered as Anakin shot off after the others. Xanatos could only nod in agreement, tensely looking down at the monitor he had been given so he could see the happenings of the race even when the pods were out of sight on the other side of the track. Obi-Wan looked along from beside him as Anakin tore through the course, allowing Sebulba to deal with the others before getting too involved with his competitors. It was a rather intelligent technique as far as Xanatos was concerned, one that would keep Anakin in the race for sure.

Xanatos juggled the options in his head in the event that Anakin did lose the race, highly unlikely as it was. He could always subdue Watto, steal the parts he needed as well as Anakin and his mother. That was rather un-Jedi like and would have to be kept as an absolute last resort. He could send a transmission to the council requesting help if by some miracle a transmission made it that far. He could steal a ship. Also very un-Jedi like. He could try to bargain with every parts dealer on the planet though that would be rather time consuming and the situation on Naboo could not be held off for that long. He could always use a force suggestion on the right kind of creature to get what he wanted. It was all kinds of thievery and while Xanatos wasn't above most of it he was sure that neither the Queen nor the council would approve of such methods. He sincerely hoped Anakin would win this solely so he wouldn't have to do something to lose the council's trust again.

Sensing deep waves of worry from Shmi, Xanatos set his own thoughts aside and looked back to where she stood on the now elevated viewing platform. While Padme was absorbed in the monitor she was holding, Shmi was looking off distantly and Xanatos carefully sent waves of comfort towards her through the force. He did not wish for her to worry as he sensed she'd done far too much of that in her life already. Xanatos returned his attention to the monitor in his hands as Tusken Raiders became visible above the race course. He brought a finger to his mouth as the Raiders fired their rifles at the Pods in the canyon below them. Obi-Wan looked up at his master as the older man displayed his usual nervous tick, but resumed watching the monitor as one of the Raider's shots ricocheted off the back of Anakin's Pod. If Xanatos had been any less impatient and restless he would have sat down to meditate in that moment and calm his anxieties. However being as he was he simply opted to chewing his nails to the skin and gripping the monitor in his hands much harder than necessary.

"Worried?" Obi-Wan asked quietly.

"No, not at all" Xanatos lied through his teeth, "I'm good. I'm always good, you know that."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, "Of course."

Both Jedi looked up to the track as the racers sped by signalling the beginning of the second lap. The audience around them roared with cheers and shouts and looking back to Padme and Shmi saw that they were joining along.

"I bet their freedom on his win, you know. Their freedom and ours" Xanatos said quietly, turning his eyes from the two women.

"What?" Obi-Wan balked.

The elder simply nodded, "He's strong, he's force sensitive and he's kind. He could do so much good free and with the love of his mother to support him."

Obi-Wan suddenly looked more startled than anything, "You're thinking of bringing him before the council?"

"Yes." Xanatos switched the nail that he'd been chewing to the one beside it. Obi-Wan opened his mouth, waiting for one of his million and one thoughts to make itself audible but none came and he wound up simply licking his lips andturning his attention back to the monitor in his master's hands. He frowned as Sebulba used foul play to veer another racer into Anakin's pod. With the thoughts swirling in his mind of Anakin being brought before the council and then possibly even becoming Xanatos' apprentice, Obi-Wan could hardly focus on the race anymore and even found himself wishing in some dark crevice of his mind that the boy would lose and never be brought to the temple.

As the third lap began Xanatos looked over to where Watto was seated and caught a worried expression on the Toydarian's face. When the dealer looked in his direction Xanatos simply smiled, waved and looked away. Returning his attention to the monitor Xanatos saw Sebulba uses his side exhaust port to try to cut through Anakin's engines. And while Anakin managed to avoid having his engine disabled he was still forced off course. Xanatos exhaled deeply as Anakin turned himself back into the course and the announcer beamed about it.

The Jedi Knight closed his eyes, losing himself in his mind's eye for a moment before sensing something sharp in the force and snapping his eyes open. Looking at the monitor he saw Anakin about to move towards the inner side of the course. Sebulba came around him and rammed into Anakin over and over till the steering rods on the two Pods became hooked together from the repeated collisions. While Sebulba took the time to laugh, Anakin reached to purposely break off his own steering arm. His pod started spinning but the release of tension sent Sebulba crashing into an ancient statue nearby. His engines immediately exploded, engulfing both him and Anakin into a thick cloud of smoke.

Both Obi-Wan and Xanatos' breath caught when this happened but a moment later Anakin sped out of the smoke, dirty and run down, but unharmed. The crowd erupted with cheers and Xanatos let out the breath he wasn't away he was holding. He dropped the monitor to the ground and ran both hands through his hair.

"Thank the force" he muttered, closing his eyes as the relief washed over him. And then it settled in; Anakin had done it. He'd one the race and he'd proved Xanatos' hunch about him to be absolutely correct. He decided right then that there was no way he was leaving Anakin behind as a child with so much sensitivity to the force could only be one person. A person that he'd thought was a myth every time Qui-Gon had tried to give him lessons on the subject, but now wholeheartedly believed to be true. From the looks of it, Anakin was _the_ Chosen One.

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**As usual feel free to leave me your ****thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions, what you'd like to see happen next or eventually, constructive criticism or anything of the kind. I love hearing from you guys :)**


	9. Lay at Ease

**Hello again, my darlings. So first thing's first I did a bit of revision to this story-that's right I rewrote a rewrite halfway through-and the plot has been changed around quite significantly. A few relationships have been changed, a few plot bits added and some things deleted. It would make much more sense to go back and read up on the changes but you can continue reading from here I suppose if you're willing to work with a little bit of confusion.**

**That being said, apologies o****nce again **for the tremendous amount of lateness, end of the year had me all over the place. Good news is, school's out now so updates should be coming much faster. Anywho, without any further ado, here's the next one. Enjoy!

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Among the crowds of spectators that had left the stands to gather around Anakin and cheer, only one tall, dark haired Jedi Knight caught the boy's attention.

"I did it Xanatos! I did it!" Anakin shouted, ceasing his celebrations the moment he laid eyes on the Jedi Knight.

Xanatos' smile widened and he reached up to Anakin to high five him, "You did indeed do it kiddo. You've done us a great service Anakin, I'm very, very proud of you." Anakin beamed as though he'd never been praised for his doings before. But before Anakin could say anything else Xanatos had already turned away and began walking in a different direction to collect his winnings.

After a brief conversation with Watto, when Xanatos returned to the Main Hanger it was practically deserted. Shmi was knelt in front of her son and Padme and Obi-Wan stood near them, engaged in what seemed like an animated talk.

"Xanatos, look at all of the reward money that we got!" Anakin shouted, running over to the Knight once he spotted him. He held up a sack of coins for Xanatos to see and the elder smiled, "That's fantastic, but I'm afraid those won't be any good to you anymore." Anakin gave Xanatos a confused expression.

"Come on" Xanatos said, putting a hand on the boy's back and leading him towards the others.

"Padme" he spoke firmly to the handmaiden that quite literally looked up to him, "I have a very important job that I need you to do. Do you think you're up for a little journey on your own?" Padme looked hesitant but still nodded.

"Alright, Watto is going to bring the parts we need for the ship down here in a little bit and I need you to bring them back to the ship while Obi-Wan and I handle some unfinished business. Could you do that for me?" Xanatos asked hoping she'd accept the mission so he wouldn't have to send Obi-Wan out on his own on the foreign planet.

"Sure, if it keeps Skirmish over here from getting the job instead and winding up in a bar fight" Padme shrugged, not sparing a glance towards Obi-Wan who scowled. Xanatos raised a questioning brow at his apprentice but decided he'd ask about it later. For now the Knight turned to Shmi, looked her directly in the eyes and took her hands into his.

"You've helped us so very much, offered us your son despite how dangerous it was and force knows what would have happened to us if you hadn't. And for that I'm entirely all too grateful" Xanatos took a breath and added, "But my word isn't enough thanks. That's why we're going to head over to your home before we return to our ship with our parts. You're going to pack your belongings and then we're going to go to Watto so he can remove your tracking chips."

Shmi furrowed her brows in question. "I've won your freedom. Both of yours, you and Anakin are free. You can come with us to Coruscant and depending on whether we can bring Anakin to the Jedi Temple you can take up residence and work there. Either way Obi-Wan and I will not leave you without any support system once we get there, alright?"

The tears were visible in Shmi's eyes by the time Xanatos had finished speaking. Her grip on his hands had tightened and she was struggling to keep her composure. "Thank you" she managed to whisper, voice shaking.

"It's the least I can do" Xanatos smiled.

"You freed us?" The small voice of Anakin spoke from beside them.

"I did, buddy" Xanatos said, releasing Shmi's hands and crouching before the boy, "You and your mom are as free as birds now. Watto will never burden you again."

Anakin stared at Xanatos in disbelief for a moment before lunging forward at him, throwing his arms around Xanatos' neck and embracing him with the hopes that the gesture would show half the gratefulness he felt. "Thank you" Anakin's voice was muffled through Xanatos' shoulder.

"You are quite welcome" Xanatos chuckled. When Anakin finally released him he stood and patted the boy fondly on the shoulder.

"Padme,, there's Watto with our winnings" Xanatos pointed to the hangar entrance where Watto was leading two eopies in. "Think you can make it on your own?" Padme eyes the eopies for a moment before shrugging, "Of course."

"Atta girl. We'll meet you back at the ship alright?" Xanatos explained, to which Padme nodded and took off in Watto's direction, R2 close behind.

* * *

After the Skywalkers had finished gathering their belongings Anakin insisted on going around to say goodbye to his friends and while they _were_ on a tight schedule, Xanatos, remembering his own rushed departure from Telos both times allowed the boy his time.

Watching Anakin exchange goodbyes with his childhood friends made Xanatos quite ardently wish that he could simply free all the slaves of the planet and give them the lives that every human deserved. He dwelled on the thought for a moment before removing the increasingly large amount on negativity gathering in his mind, focusing himself elsewhere.

"Kitser" he spoke suddenly, kneeling before the two boys before him. He'd been briefly introduced to the child that seemed to be Anakin's closest friend when the boy had stopped by the Skywalker hovel to check up on the pod and offer Anakin words of encouragement the day before. Looking into his eyes, the innocence on his face made Xanatos see what had caused Qui-Gon to pick him up from Telos all those years ago. Everyone deserved freedom, love and guidance and he just couldn't imagine what it would be like to have been raised any differently than he was. Sighing once again as his mind has wandered off, he reached into his robes and pulled out the small sack of reward money that Anakin had given him for safe keeping.

"Why don't you keep these" Xanatos smiled at Kitser, handing him the currency. The slave boy beamed, thanking Xanatos multiple times, but the Jedi simply stood up, ruffled the child's hair and began down the road again, informing Anakin that they needed to go. They made a few more pit stops before reaching Watto's shop where Anakin and Shmi were officially freed and Xanatos made sure that his parts had been picked up by Padme in one piece.

With two eopies loaded with parts the Jedi and the Skywalkers headed back to the Nubian ship that awaited them on the outskirts of town. However half way along their trek Xanatos noticed something off and instructed Shmi and Anakin to walk ahead to the ship.

Xanatos hung back with Obi-Wan and through their bond informed the young man,_ "There's a probe droid on our tail. I'm not sure why I haven't sensed it till now but prepare yourself to fight in the event that whoever it is that sent it after us is nearby, ok?_"

And as soon as Obi-Wan responded with a _"Yes, master,"_ Xanatos spun around, ignited his lightsaber and cut a lurking probe droid in half. From a ways off Anakin and Shmi had stopped at the sound of Xanatos' weapon, but he only ordered them to keep moving. Obi-Wan and Xanatos inspected the sparking droid for a moment before deciding they needed to get off planet-_fast_.

By the time Shmi and Anakin had reached the ship the sound of a fast approaching land speeder behind them had become apparent to the attuned senses of the Jedi. At this point Xanatos abandoned the idea of running and turned in preparation to battle the Zabrak that flipped off of his speeder and toward the Jedi. Halfway towards his descent to the ground the Zabrak ignited a blood red lightsaber of his own, a color that startled both Jedi for a moment before they returned their focus to the fight.

Obi-Wan was quick to go to his master's aid when the Zabrak began swinging ferociously at him. It wasn't long before they became engulfed in a cloud of dust, their quick movements kicking up copious amounts of sand. Despite being a padawan, Obi-Wan didn't fail to pose as a challenge for the Zabrak. He was mindful of his master's movements as well as their opponent's so he could cover Xanatos' few blind spots as well as defend himself. He'd gotten quite used to doing this over the last ten years and he did his best to tell himself that this was just like any practice match. The more he thought about how real the situation was the more off key he'd be and he knew it.

Despite both Jedi's valiant efforts the Zabrak took advantage of the smallest opening in their tactics and smashed the hilt of his double sided saber into Obi-Wan's nose. The padawan took a step backward but before he could recover he was kicked in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground. Xanatos didn't dwell on the loss of his apprentice in the fight as he knew Obi-Wan was resilient and would be alright. Instead he focused on subduing his enemy so he could check on his younger companion. However after several successful blows that seemed to be dealing damage to the Zabrak, Xanatos was caught off guard when the sharp shock of an elbow came in contact with his elbow and then the Zabrak swung a leg across his knees to sweep the Jedi Knight right off his feet.

Xanatos hit the ground harder than he thought he would and took a single second to draw the air back into his lungs. However, a second seemed to be too long because when Xanatos turned over onto his back the first thing he saw was his enemy's glowing red saber coming to crash right above him.

He took a sharp breath once he realized his lightsaber wasn't within his reach anymore and it was too late to call it to his hand. For a moment time slowed down and the realistic possibility of his life coming to a halt right then and there at the hands of the Zabrak hit Xanatos. His final thought was to turn his head in the direction that his apprentice had fallen and assure the younger's safety before he went out but found Obi-Wan nowhere to be found in the mess of sand twirling around them.

And just when he thought it was over, the sound of two lightsabers clashing reached his ears and looking up Xanatos saw the Zabrak turned to block the bright blue blade of Obi-Wan Kenobi from beside him. Obi-Wan attacked viciously, directing the fight away from Xanatos' fallen form. The knight was quick to call his weapon back to himself and run to rejoin the fight.

He never did quite make it as the Zabrak attacked Obi-Wan in a similar fashion as it had attacked him; an elbow to the nose followed by a foot to it. And just as Xanatos had, Obi-Wan toppled backwards, lightsaber out of reach.

_"Obi-Wan!"_ Xanatos called into their bond. The moment his apprentice turned to look at him Xanatos tossed his own saber at Obi-Wan, who used it to narrowly block a blow from the Zabrak. Xanatos began running towards them once again, calling Obi-Wan's discarded weapon to his hand as he did.

He flipped over the battling pair to behind the Zabrak and delivered a few distracting blows before backing away from the fight. The ship was close, and using the force to accelerate his speed, Xanatos dashed into the ship. He could sense Obi-Wan tiring out and knew there was no time to waste. While he was relieved to see Padme, Shmi and Anakin in the ship in one piece, he rushed past them to the cockpit to order the pilots to take off.

"Fly low" he barked, staring out the windshield, "Obi-Wan is still down there so keep the ramp down."

The pilots obediently headed towards the green glow of Xanatos' lightsaber in the cloud of dust below. And just when they came close enough to make a rescue the green glow disappeared and only a red was visible. Xanatos' heart leapt to his throat and he practically flew out of the cockpit to the ramp entrance, bracing himself to rejoin the fight. He suddenly severely regretted thinking it was a good idea to leave his apprentice out there with a possible Sith lord. Yes, a Sith lord. He couldn't imagine for the life of him who else would wield a saber of that color.

Despite Xanatos' preparations to return to the sandy ground below, he arrived at the ship's exit hull just as Obi-Wan jumped onto the ramp. The Knight's relief was short lived as he saw the Zabrak jump up behind Obi-Wan. Multiple scenarios as to what would happen if the Sith made it onto the ship prompted Xanatos to instantly shoot a hand out and force push the Zabrak off the ramp. Before another attempt could be made to infiltrate the ship, the ramp closed behind Obi-Wan and the padawan collapsed with a heavy thud. Xanatos vaguely registered Anakin at his heels but that didn't matter to him in the least bit at the moment. All he cared about was the fallen young man before him.

Xanatos crouched down and lifted Obi-Wan's limp form onto a knee. "Obi-Wan?" He called a bit desperately, putting a hand to the younger's neck to check for a pulse. Subconsciously he knew Obi-Wan was still alive as he hadn't felt their bond snap but he still couldn't help but be terrified by the sight of his apprentice's eyes closed that way and his body so motionless. He looked to the injuries that his padawan had attained and acknowledged that they didn't seem life threatening but his mind wouldn't rest at ease until he saw Obi-Wan's very distinct blue eyes.

"Kenobi, come on!" He growled, putting a hand on Obi-Wan's chest and attempting to give him a bit of a push with his own life force, "Come on!" The last call seemed to have done the trick as Obi-Wan coughed into conscience. Relief instantly flooded Xanatos' features and the glossiness that had began coating his eyes eased back. "Atta boy" Xanatos muttered as he helped Obi-Wan sit up, "Can you walk?"

Obi-Wan, who was still rather disoriented, looked around for a moment before nodding, "I might need some help though."

Xanatos looked relieved, "Alright come on," he swung one of Obi-Wan's arms around his neck and pulled the padawan to his feet. "Let's get those cuts and scrapes cleaned out and then you can have a well deserved rest, alright?" Obi-Wan simply nodded at his master's statement and allowed himself to be led to the shared quarters of the ship which they had been given by the queen.

* * *

There was much on Obi-Wan's mind as Xanatos placed a bacta patch over a particularly nasty cut on his collarbone. Among the mess was the question of why his master seemingly abandoned him on the sands of Tattoine to fend for himself and the only answer his negative mind could come up with was that he needed to make sure that Anakin was alright more than he needed to see Obi-Wan to safety. The thought was a dark and unwelcome one, Obi-Wan knew that full well, but he just couldn't help himself. So to try and push it all aside he focused on the worry that seemed to be radiating from the master before him and asked, "What was it?"

"Our attacker." Xanatos answered all too quickly, looking up at Obi-Wan for the first time since he'd began using his makeshift first aid kit. "He was force sensitive obviously and well trained at that too. The color of his blade indicated that he was of a race long thought to be extinct but you never know, right?" Xanatos sighed and returned to his work, "I never thought it would come to this again. I never thought I'd have to see that color of blade ever a-"

The Knight froze as he felt the waves of comfort that Obi-Wan was pushing through their bond. It prompted a smile on his face, "Thanks."

Obi-Wan's returned smile served as a silent "You're welcome." He then returned to the matter at hand asking, "Do you think he'll follow us?"

"We're safe for now, but I'm sure he can guess where we're off to" Xanatos muttered absentmindedly, patching off the last of Obi-Wan's injuries.

"And what are we going to do about that?"

Xanatos simply sighed in response to his apprentice's question and answered, "Let's just hope this hyperdrive works and Watto didn't get the last laugh, yeah?" He offered a small smile before changing the course of the conversation with a pat to the younger's shoulder, "Now why don't you get some rest while I go see if I can reach the council to brief them, ok?"

"Sure," Obi-Wan let out a deep breath and looked around his arms and upper body to the places that'd just been treated. Xanatos turned around to leave but halfway to the door he abruptly strode back to Obi-Wan and pulled the young man into a hug-as much as was possible with the younger sitting. Obi-Wan seemed rather startled at first, but upon sensing his master's emotions, he eased up into the embrace.

"I'm glad you're alright, kiddo" Xanatos said solemnly before pulling back, offering Obi-Wan one more warm smile and leaving him be.

* * *

"Tattoine?" Qui-Gon asked incredulously, interrupting Xanatos' tale, "How did you to wind up that far out of the Republic's borders?"

"The Federation's goons chased us around trying to take us down and with a transport ship lacking weaponry all we could do was run. We were forced to land in Tattoine to replace a shot hyperdrive" Xanatos recounted to the hologram of his master before him, "We've been able to gather the parts and we're on our way to Coruscant with the queen now."

"Excellent" the blue shade of Plo Koon nodded, "Ah, tell us, Knight Omega, how exactly did you gather this hyperdrive on such a desolate planet?" He was aware of Xanatos' frequently unorthodox methods of achieving his goals and was quite clearly hoping for an answer that wouldn't lead him to have to reprimand that man who was still quite young in their eyes.

"I was just getting to that, masters" Xanatos began patiently, "There was a slave boy here that helped us. No older than eight or nine and most certainly force sensitive. He selflessly pod raced against his owner to win us our hyperdrive and didn't expect anything in return. His pod racing was enabled by an incredible force presence and because this boy, Anakin Skywalker, more or less saved our lives and in return I freed him and his mother-through the proper means-" Xanatos clarified, glancing over at Plo Koon. "And they are travelling to Coruscant with us now in hopes of starting a new life here. Now that Anakin is free however, his unharnessed power has no means of control and not only would it be dangerous to leave such a strong being exposed to our slowly corrupting system, but I also believe that-" Xanatos paused, sensing that what he was going to say next would either make or break not just Anakin's future, but the futures of hundreds others as well. He took a deep breath and began again. "What with his tremendous hold of the force and innate abilities beyond any youngling his age I have a strong feeling that Anakin may be the Chosen One of the prophecy." Xanatos looked to Qui-Gon, who sat up once he said this. "And with your permission, masters, I would like to bring Anakin before you simply for testing." Xanatos looked around the council to register any reactions. "If I do not have your consent for this request then I will set Anakin and his mother up with a home and work once we land on Coruscant and that will be the end of that."

The council members remained silent for a long moment to think over the situation before Master Windu spoke up. "You seem to have faith in the boy, Xanatos but I doubt Master Yoda would approve of this if he were here. Still, he won't be back from his venture to Dagobah till later, so if you feel as strongly about the boy as you say, I suppose you can bring him before us-just for testing."

"Thank you" Xanatos bowed, "I will report again if another important situation comes up, "Till then, may the force be with you, masters."

"And you, Knight Omega," the council collectively responded before Xanatos ended the transmission. He let out a breath and turned away from his holo unit before running a rather relieved hand through his hair. With that out of the way he could finally get a little bit of rest himself and lay at ease.

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**Alright so that was the ninth one for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it and you might want to hang tight for the next few because things are about to get intense :) Anyway, let me know how the changes are if you've read back and as always ****suggestions, courteous criticism and comments are welcome. Till next time lovelies.**


	10. Kinetic

**Well that certainly took some time! College is hectic guys! Anywho, here's the next one, a bit short, but here it is. Enjoy!**

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Once they arrived in Coruscant Xanatos intended to escort the queen to the senate building where she'd be allowed to rest before speaking to the chancellor regarding her situation but she insisted on speaking to them immediately. Xanatos complied with her wishes and after showing her to the senate chambers he, Obi-Wan and Shmi headed to the Jedi Temple. Xanatos noticed how enamored Anakin seemed to be by Coruscant's cityscape and remembered having the same reaction when he'd first been brought to the planet. It made him smile fondly at the boy and much more tolerant to his endless stream of questions.

Once at the Temple Xanatos and Obi-Wan brought Anakin and Shmi before the council, putting their settlement before their own needs. "Masters, this is Anakin Skywalker" Xanatos introduced, putting a hand behind Anakin's back, "And this is his mother, Shmi Skywalker."

Xanatos then took the time to introduce each and every one of the council members to Anakin, a broad smile coming to his lips as he reached Qui-Gon. "And that is the Qui-Gon Jinn I told you about on the ride here. He was the one that trained me." Anakin had become rather tense and intimidated by the line of frowning Jedi Masters but the smile and small wave that Qui-Gon offered him seemed to ease the boy up significantly. He smiled for the first time since he'd walked into the council chambers and stood up straighter between Obi-Wan and Xanatos.

"And that's Master Windu" Xanatos said, gesturing to the final council member, "He's just as Qui-Gon, except he acutally thinks before leaping into the Rancor's nest."

While Qui-Gon rolled his eyes half heatedly, Windu, satisfied with his introduction, spoke up, "How do you feel, young Skywalker?"

"Cold, sir" Anakin replied almost instantly.

"Afraid?" Windu asked, narrowing his eyes. Anakin looked up at Xanatos as if to ask the elder how to answer, but Xanatos simply gave him a reassuring pat on the back that told him to be honest.

"Just a little" Anakin answered hesitantly.

"There is no need to be afraid, Anakin" Qui-Gon spoke up, "We are Jedi, protectors and friends of all in the Republic. A Republic that you are now a part of." The smile was still present on Qui-Gon's face and once again, it calmed Anakin down. He nodded at Qui-Gon and looked back to Windu, "I'm not afraid, sir."

Xanatos and Qui-Gon exchanged knowing looks before Windu continued, "Alright, good. Now, you wanted him tested, is that correct, Xanatos?"

"Yes, master" Xanatos nodded, stepping forward. "If anything then to simply be able to keep an eye on him wherever he is because we cannot deny that the force flows deep within him."

"That is true" Windu nodded, "There's no denying he's strong."

"You are much like your old master, Xanatos. What with twisting your words to get us to satisfy your outandish request you make" Master Ki-Adi Mundi pitched in his two cents with a hint of humor in his tone.

Xanatos knew better than to try and protest, as he knew the council member was referring to how Qui-Gon similarly brought him along to the temple thirty years ago. He looked down with a smile before glancing at a beaming Qui-Gon and then back to Mundi. "I do not mean to deceive, master" he settled with saying.

"Shame on you, if fool us once you two do, but shame on us it is if fool us twice, you succeed at" Master Yaddle pitched in and the normally rigid council couldn't help but all let out a small noise of amusement or other. It was clear that the council had discussed the matter beforehand and wasn't going to force any drilling or grilling onto the Omega-Kenobi pair now.

"Normally we wouldn't conduct a testing without the entire council present," Windu's eyes briefly moved to the empty smaller seat in the middle of the semi-circle that the council chairs created, "But since this is a special occasion and Master Yoda is on Alderaan on a mission that might take more than just a little while, we we will test him here and now, Xanatos." Windu continued once the noise died down, "Is there anything else you wish to address for now?"

"Ah...yes, master" Xanatos began hesitantly, unsure as to how he should word his next few thoughts. "On Tattoine Obi-Wan and I encountered a warrior trained in the ways of the force that had been tracking us via probe droid. The color of his blade indicated that he was...a Sith, master. We dueled him briefly but we were forced to flee as the Queen's safety was more important at the time than defeating him."

The council looked trouble and Windu's tone dropped into a much more grave one, "This is rather troubling news..but we will discuss it once we are finished with Anakin. Till then go home, rest and accommodate Ms. Skywalker."

"Yes master" Xanatos nodded and bowed deeply. "Good luck, buddy" he winked at his most recent ward with a hand to the shoulder before turning towards the door.

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With Shmi and Obi-Wan resting from the long journey that they had just returned from, Xanatos, the ever restless one, took a quick shower before he was out and about again. He had originally intended on catching up with one of his friends and inviting them out for lunch, but along the way he ran into a more than familiar face; his grandmaster, Count Dooku.

It made Xanatos smile, seeing the older man. Coming across such a familiar face reminded him of the life of peace he lived most of the time that he seemed to have forgotten about over the course of his rather difficult rescue mission.

"Good morning, Grandmaster" Xanatos bowed slightly as he approached the much older man.

"Ah, Xanatos, it's good to see you" Dooku smiled upon seeing the Knight. Once Xanatos stood up straight again he was taken into a firm embrace, "It's been far too long."

Xanatos nodded in agreement. The two had been away off planet at the same times causing them to have missed each other for nearly a half a year. Growing up Xanatos had been extremely fond of his grandmaster. Dooku was the on that sided with Xanatos when it came to his un-Jedi like ways and supported his outlandish behavior when Qui-Gon chastised him. He supposed it was because despite how respected and renown a Jedi Dooku was, he still followed his own mind over the council's. No matter what it was, it had made the two close-closer perhaps than Dooku had been to even Qui-Gon.

"It has been. How are you, master?" Xanatos asked once he'd been released.

"As I usually am; kinetic" Dooku replied, simply, "And you? I heard you just rescued the Queen of Naboo under a set of rather ridiculous circumstances. Plan to elope and marry now?"

"Of course, master, you know me all too well" Xanatos chuckled, "Where are you off to?"

"Just on my way to the archives to do a bit of research for an upcoming mission" Dooku replied, not seeming as enthusiastic as he usually did about his full time job.

"Off planet already? And here I was hoping to catch lunch" Xanatos clicked his teeth.

"Perhaps in another six months" Dooku joked.

"Of course" Xanatos laughed, "Alright, I supposed I should let you go then. It was good to see you again, master."

"And you, young one. Take care of yourself and may the force be with you" Dooku clapped a hand on the younger's shoulder before taking off.

Having brightened his mood significantly, Xanatos wished the same to Dooku before continuing on his way. He didn't make it very far though before his comm link went off.

"Omega, speaking" Xanatos said, retrieving the call.

"It's me, padawan" the ever familiar voice of Qui-Gon Jinn replied. It made Xanatos' face burst into a smile. Despite the fact that he'd been a knight for nearly fifteen years now, every so often Qui-Gon referred to him with his former title, reminding him that to the elder he'd always be a reckless teenager that needed to be looked after and cared for tentatively. While most full grown men would find that irritating, Xanatos loved it; he'd spent his entire life seeking Qui-Gon's approval and to be constantly reminded that he still had it to such a large extent was more than enough to light his days.

"Yes, master" Xanatos spoke, taking himself from his thoughts, "Is there something you need?"

"Gracing us with your presence would be nice." Qui-Gon always did love poking fun at Xanatos' rather massive ego and the younger had learned to play along with it by now.

"I'll have to check my schedule but I'm sure I can make it. What's the occasion?" Xanatos replied with a smile.

"We've finished testing Anakin and we want to speak to you and Obi-Wan about him."

"Did he pass? Are we going to hold on to him? Do you think he's the chosen one?" Xanatos blurted out, changing his course for the council chambers at this point.

"Patience, Xanatos, you will have the answers to all you questions as soon as you get here" Qui-Gon replied, true to character.

Xanatos rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright I'll be there in a minute."

"That's more like it. Jinn out."

With the ending of the transmission, Xanatos broke into a small sprint towards the council chambers, feeling more anxious than ever as to the council's decision and how it would impact their opinion of him.

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**Well that was that, the council has made their decision. The plot deviates muy mucho starting from the next chapter so stick around! Reviews and feedback are love :)**


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